Aegis (Core Universe)
Aegis was an Agori of the Bara Magnan Fire Tribe and later an operative for the Order of Mata Nui. Although weaker and frailer than his fellow Agori, Aegis' brilliant mind more than made up for it with his ability to craft devastating weapons, including his magnum opus: the MORTAR suit. History The Beginnings Aegis was born only after The Shattering, on the fragment of Bara Magna, never having lived on Spherus Magna. Born into the Fire Tribe, it was quickly realized that Aegis was weak and frail compared to his fellow Agori. Seen as a burden by many, Aegis was quickly ostracized by his fellow tribemates. As a result, Aegis spent much his time around machines rather than his peers. He made a home in the Vulcanus scrapyard, both literally and figuratively, not doing any favors to his social standing. As time passed, Aegis learned all about machines, inside and out, tinkering with them whenever he could. Unable to get much in terms of employment, Aegis was forced to serve as a mechanic to other vehicle fighters, a job he maintained for some time. However, he still tinkered around in secret while holding this job. Soon, Aegis developed his first vehicle: the Tusker V1. Soon after, Aegis got approval from Raanu to utilize his vehicle in the arena, the latter curious to see what Aegis could do. Learn to Fight Before You Learn to Walk Not much longer after, Aegis was off to Tajun, ready to finally prove his strength to his fellow tribemates. However, Aegis found himself less ready than he thought; as the Tusker was mainly made of spare parts, it's frame was inferior compared to his competitor. Aegis had also severely overestimated his own driving skills. These 'mishaps' led to Aegis' embarrassing defeat at the hands of his Water Tribe adversary. Greatly ashamed and knowing what awaited him back at Vulcanus, Aegis went his own way, piloting the Tusker, hoping that maybe some other Tribe would take pity on him. Luck would not favor him, however. Aegis soon found himself lost and in uncharted territory. His lack of direction led him straight into the clutches of a group of Bone Hunters, who took both Aegis and his vehicle. Aegis, as well as the Tusker, were then handed over to a Skrall slave caravan en route to Roxtus. Aegis was thrown inside a large motor vehicle which carried numerous imprisoned Agori. In the midst of the bleak situation, Aegis saw hope. This machine, frequently used by the Skrall, was also cared for very little, leading to high amounts of rust in some parts of the platform they were trapped on, weakening said plates. Aegis was able to convince his fellow Agori, who were stronger than him, to pry off the plates, exposing the transports mechanical innards. Utilizing his proficiency with machines, Aegis was not only able to lift the gates keeping them trapped, but also lock the wheels on the carriage itself, causing the vehicle to stop. The other Agori then overwhelmed the two Skrall driving the vehicle through their superior numbers. After reclaiming the Tusker, which had been hauled along with the carriage, Aegis offered to drive ahead and distract the Skrall that would be waiting there. The Skrall would begin investigating once the caravan missed its arrival time, surely sending swift, deadly patrols that the Agori could have no hope of fighting against. The Agori then set off on the transport vehicle, heading once again towards safety, with Aegis riding off to buy them time. The Tusker had already proved to be unreliable and Aegis already proven to be a bad driver. Nevertheless, Aegis was successful in distracting the Skrall, but whether or not he would survive his ordeal remained uncertain. The Skrall chased Aegis until they arrived at the Scars, a large canyon system on Bara Magna. Approaching the cliffs, Aegis could not stop the Tusker in time and plummeted off into the canyon. An Unlikely Survival and An Unlikely Inspiration Luckily for Aegis, he just so happened to be plunging off a cliff that contained a river at its bottom. Not so lucky for him, the Tusker was going to crash into the riverbank rather than the river. Just in the nick of time, however, Aegis was able to jump off from the Tusker and dive into the river. Being injured and having no idea how to swim, Aegis began to drown whilst being carried downstream. Soon about to suffocate, Aegis was able to maneuver his body towards the shoreline, shortly losing consciousness after. Aegis reawoke shivering. The sun had set on Bara Magna, placing the barren deserted world in subzero temperatures. In an outburst characterized by grief and hopelessness, Aegis banged his fist against the cliff wall. Recoiling in pain, Aegis discovered that he had actually hit a hidden switch. Bewildered, Aegis saw a small section of the wall open, revealing a cavern, its interior dimly lit. With a warm draft coming from within, Aegis entered inside, desiring not to freeze to death. Not long after venturing inside, Aegis discovered what the cave possessed: an old, abandoned laboratory of the Great Beings. Far from pristine condition, the place seemed ransacked, attacked by...something. The highly advanced technology was too wrecked for Aegis to gain any use of it. However, he made a rather shocking discovery: blueprint fragments of a weapon developed by the Great Beings. While he was unable to decipher the writing on the blueprints, he knew a machine when he saw one. His spirits lifted, Aegis went to sleep, vowing to make it out alive. The next day, Aegis formulated a plan. Using materials in the lab, Aegis fashioned two climbing picks which he used to scale the cliff face. Retracing his steps, Aegis snuck back to the site of the caravan revolt, careful not to attract Skrall attention. However, the only Skrall he saw were corpses. Standing among them: an Ice Tribe scouting team, led by the Glatorian Topor. Abilities and Traits In all physical terms, Aegis was weaker than his fellow Agori. More likely to break a bone, more likely to bruise, and not as strong as his fellow tribemates. Because of this, Aegis relied on machines to do many of his tasks for him. After the Reformation, Aegis would wear a microskeleton contained in a set of armor, which would protect him as well as boost his strength to that of a normal Agori. Trivia * As a character, Aegis has existed since around 2013 * Aegis has gone through multiple iterations, with the only thing never changing being his mask * The mask is not made by LEGO, it is rather a mask from the Mega Bloks brand Neoshifters * Aegis, as well as MORTAR, were equally inspired by the superhero Iron Man as well as the REDBOSS MOC made by Chro in 2013